Poster Title

Presenter Information

Grade Level at Time of Presentation

Secondary School

Institution

Project Lead The Way - Kentucky

KY House District #

61

KY Senate District #

17

Faculty ​Advisor/​ Mentor

Elaine Dietz

Abstract

Fungal infections are extremely common and can linger for years. Traditional antifungal treatments require repeated doses and result in a multitude of side effects which led to the study of alternative treatments. Essential oils are rising in popularity as a substitute for a plethora of medicines, including antifungals. In this study the fungicidal activity of 5 different essential oils solutions that were created were tested against a control of distilled water on yeast cultures that had been grown. Data was collected over the course of a 15-day trial and cell death was recorded daily. Once the trial came to its conclusion four of the five oil solutions had t-statistics greater than the critical value of 1.701. Lavender oil showed the most cell death, yielding a t-statistic of 5.101. These findings indicate that certain essential oils possess qualities of a fungicide, making it a viable side effect free alternative to antifungal creams for those plagued with recurring fungal infections.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS

Antifungal Activity of Different Essential Oils

Fungal infections are extremely common and can linger for years. Traditional antifungal treatments require repeated doses and result in a multitude of side effects which led to the study of alternative treatments. Essential oils are rising in popularity as a substitute for a plethora of medicines, including antifungals. In this study the fungicidal activity of 5 different essential oils solutions that were created were tested against a control of distilled water on yeast cultures that had been grown. Data was collected over the course of a 15-day trial and cell death was recorded daily. Once the trial came to its conclusion four of the five oil solutions had t-statistics greater than the critical value of 1.701. Lavender oil showed the most cell death, yielding a t-statistic of 5.101. These findings indicate that certain essential oils possess qualities of a fungicide, making it a viable side effect free alternative to antifungal creams for those plagued with recurring fungal infections.